The government's handling of the "war on terror" received a damning appraisal this morning, as senior MPs warned that, more than a year after the invasion, Iraq was in danger of turning into a "failed state" and that Afghanistan "could implode".

The foreign affairs committee also reported that there was "little, if any" sign of the much heralded war on drugs being won under the new regime in Afghanistan.

In a major new report analysing the government's foreign policy in relation to the "war on terror" - covering Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Israel and Palestine, the UN, Libya and Iran - the committee warns that the "coalition's failure to bring law and order to parts of Iraq created a vacuum into which criminal elements and militias have stepped".

Speaking at a news conference to launch the report, Conservative committee member Sir John Stanley warned that, with elections just months away, Afghanistan was now "absolutely on the knife edge" - especially in the light of the decision yesterday of Médicin sans Frontières to pull out, after 25 years' service in the war-torn state.

The "clock is ticking" he warned, while the committee's chairman, Donald Anderson, warned "Iraq could go either way".

Mr Anderson said it would be "three or four more years" before it could be said whether the Iraq invasion had been a success or not.

The report says it is "disappointing" that other countries have not committed troops to Iraq, but Iraq is now in danger of becoming a "failed state", adding to "regional instability".

The cross-party committee of MPs warns that "the failure to meet Iraqi expectations [...] risks damaging the credibility of the United Kingdom in Iraq and Iraqi goodwill towards it."

As a first step it recommends setting new targets for water and electricity provision in Iraq.

Considering the number of private militia and mercenaries operating in Iraq, it also recommends the UK government should introduce legislation to regulate the behaviour of "private military companies".

On Afghanistan, the other frontline state in the "war on terror", the report criticises "fine communiqués and ringing declarations" while warning that its current status is "a fragile state in one of the most sensitive and volatile regions of the world [which could] implode, with terrible consequences."

The 11-strong group of senior MPs also range over the Middle East conflict and the UN. They call on the government to come up with a response to the prime minister's question, in a speech earlier this year, as to whether international law should be changed to allow pre-emptive attacks on states even when there is no "humanitarian disaster".

And it back the government on calling for the Israeli government to halt construction of its security wall on occupied land.

In a pessimistic conclusion, they say that the road map is "stalled, possibly fatally" and that "time is fast running out for a viable two-state solution to be found".

They also call on the "extreme poverty" of the Palestinians to be addressed, in an attempt to "de-radicalise" them.

Iraq

The MPs conclude that the insufficient number of foreign troops deployed to Iraq has contributed to the deterioration in security - although they refuse to specify which countries should have sent more troops.

The comments came just a day after a suicide car bomb north-east of Baghdad killed 68 Iraqis and wounded 56 others in the deadliest terror strike since Iraq's interim government was installed.

The report says the failure of countries other than the US and UK to send significant numbers of armed personnel to Iraq has produced "serious and regrettable consequences".

The MPs said the UK government should make a renewed effort to persuade other countries, including Islamic nations, to send troops.

Saudi Arabia has recently signalled that it might be prepared to take a lead in forming a Muslim security force for Iraq.

The committee further warned that Iraq's own army and police remain "a long way from being able to maintain security", and voiced serious concerns about the impact that continuing violence might have on the crucial elections planned for the start of next year.

The MPs said it was "disappointing" that so many countries had decided against committing forces to Iraq.

They said: "We conclude that it is highly desirable that elections proceed on schedule in order to foster Iraqi engagement and confidence in the political transition.

"However, we are concerned about the impact that the security situation could have on the validity of the election process.

The report also focuses on the controversy over the Red Cross report on the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees by coalition forces.

It noted that on February 26 this year, Foreign Office officials in Iraq attended a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross, at which they were formally presented with the interim findings of their inquiry into detainee mistreatment.

But ministers received copies only on May 10, after the emergence of media reports about its contents.

The committee said: "We are very concerned that key information on intelligence and on alleged human rights violations by British personnel was withheld from senior Foreign Office officials and from ministers.

It also reveals that Britons have been named as involved in the corruption of the Iraqi Oil for Food programme - but is "assured" that none of the individuals are connected with the UK government.

Afghanistan

The committee finds that "there is little, if any, sign of the war on drugs being won, and every indication that the situation is likely to deteriorate, at least in the short term.

"We recommend that the government, which is in the lead on the counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan, explain in its response to this report exactly how it proposes to meet the targets of reducing opium poppy cultivation by 75% by 2008, and eradicating it completely by 2013."

However, Sir John revealed that when the committee travelled to Afghanistan in May and met president Kharzai, "there didn't seem to be any policy to solve it [poppy production] in the mid term".

The committee called on the international community to provide greater resources ahead of the elections planned for later this year.

Iran

The committee warned that Iran's nuclear programme - which the west fears could be used to build nuclear weapons - "continues to pose an intense challenge for the international community".

"The continued exertion of diplomatic pressure by the European troika, the US and the Russian Federation is essential to its resolution," the committee concluded.